Feedback Thoughts: The Difficulty in Conveying Feedback

When reading 5 Tips For Taking Feedback Like a Champ I realized that I am not the best with receiving feedback. I think this is because I work so hard on everything I do that it just seems like an insult if someone else doesn't think that my work is very good. I wouldn't say I get upset but rather a little defensive. In this article I really enjoyed the second tip of receiving negative potential meaning I haven't reached my full potential. When one thinks about feedback in that way you can't help but feel positive because as a person you are able to expand and become even greater than before. I also enjoyed tip 5 talking about "self-compassion". I think it is important to treat oneself like a coach in the encouraging yet flexible sense. I feel like everyone needs to push themselves in the direction of their goals and passion so to be honest with yourself is the best means of feedback in my mind.

Being a perfectionist myself, I couldn't help but read 14 Signs Your Perfectionism Has Gotten Out of Control. This article weirdly described my perfectionism which I guess means I'm out of control 😐. I think the sign of "you take everything personally" was the one that meant the most sense for me. I do have a problem of taking things too literal from people which ends up hurting me leading to me being defensive and maybe even attacking the other person with harsher feedback. These articles made me realize that I need to take a step back and relax some in order to improve myself better.

When I think about the different types of feedback I have received over my life its pretty easy to see which type benefitted me and what didn't. When it comes to feedback from my parents or coaches it has always been where the screaming and being too harsh or condescending just doesn't work for me. I need someone to show me exactly how or what to do and then encourage me as I practice it. I do think there is time and place for screaming for feedback however especially through sports. For example I had a wrestling coach who was very loud and obnoxious but he did all of his screaming in an encouraging way. I truly think some people just have a way of communicating feedback to others that fires them up and others don't. What I think it comes from is that person truly wanting the other to succeed. If that person believes in me then I can believe in myself but if not then its just negativity.

A picture of Bob Stoops from Wikimedia Commons

Wikipedia Trail: From Mother Goose to Dreamworks Animation

Mother Goose
Mother Goose

I started out this Wikipedia "goose hunt" (see what I did there) with Mother Goose because in some of my reading for possible topics for my project I looked up nursery rhymes. I wondered where does mother goose come from or who is Mother Goose? The answer turned out to be that Mother Goose was a name that refers to a country woman. Because Mother Goose is associated with fairy tales and what not that then led me to Puss in Boots.

Puss in Boots
Puss in Boots
After looking up Mother Goose, I saw on the page Puss in Boots who I knew from the Shrek movies which always can get my attention. Being ignorant I always assumed that Puss in Boots was just originally from the Shrek story. This page taught me however that he is the character of an European tale about a cat robbing and tricking people as he does in the Shrek movies as well. From Puss in Boots, who eventually got his own movie, I went to the Shrek Wikipedia link because I was thinking about how long ago that movie came out... the answer made me feel very old.

Shrek
Shrek

As I mentioned this is one of my favorite animated movies and the answer to when it came out was 2001. That means that I was only 6 years old seeing this movie in the theatre as I remember so well. This movie is hilarious and I didn't realize that Steven Spielberg owned the rights to the book written by William Steig. On this page I also noticed that the production company who threw this film together was Dreamworks Animation.

Dreamworks Animation
DreamWorks Animation

My curiosity brought me here because this last summer my friend who went to high school with me had an internship in California for this company. I learned from the Wikipedia page that the company has made 14.2 billion dollars off of the movies they have released. This makes me think I shouldn't tell my friend that because she would probably want more money from the work she did their this summer. Overall Mother Goose tied to Dreamworks because of the fairy tale aspect which is what Shrek (Dreamworks biggest movie) is considered.

Puss in Boots from Pixabay

Topic Brainstorm: Ghosts, Nursery Rhymes, The Odyssey, Dante's Inferno

Ghost Story

I have always enjoyed a good ghost story when sitting around talking with friends or family. This is probably due to the adrenaline that one feels when listening to a ghost story or watching a horror film. I love watching a horror film with a good story especially about ghosts and spirits. Some of my favorite ghost or spirit movies are Paranormal Activity, The Conjuring, and Insidious. I really don't have any past knowledge about ghost stories in terms of their history and what not. All I know is the excitement I get from the mystery of whether there is afterlife in the form of ghosts and whether they can be scary or happy spirits. I would like to learn more about some different ghost stories here in the states as those seem more applicable to me. I think the ghost stories that I would like to tell would not be violent or possessing but rather more of a mystery type. I would like to have my stories be up to time and believable to a reader. I want the mystery of whether this could be real or not and have the reader thinking "ghosts have to be real" by the end of the story. I think this makes it more fun if the story seems applicable to ones daily life because we have all had a moment where we are scared thinking "is there something in the house" and what not. I want to retell stories or make up my own stories based on the idea behind something for example the The Man in the Picture. I think I could possibly retell this in a different way or just base my story off of the premise of a haunted picture. I also like the idea of the Dead Children's Playground where I could possibly add a sensory aspect.

Animated Ghost from Pixabay

Nursery Rhymes

When I was a child my mother used to read me nursery rhymes and even make me read them as well with her. Everyone enjoys a simple rhyming pattern especially one that tells a simple story. I think the little kid in me is coming out in making me interested in having my project involve a nursery rhyme. Other than the readings I used to do with my mother over the simple stories like Jack and Jill, but I do think they are a great way to get kids excited about learning to read and write. I think I would like to start researching more nursery rhymes that are more recent than the traditional ones. I think the way I would like to write some nursery rhymes would be linking them to a musical strategy such as rap. In my research the The Nursery Rhyme Book helped me read some of the old ones I recognized like Simple Simon met a Pieman and Little Bo peep. Overall I think this topic would be entertaining in forming more applicable nursery rhymes for kids.

The Odyssey

I have had a love with Greek and Roman mythology ever since the sixth grade where I started taking Latin. Since then I have read plenty of stories about the gods and heroes but the one that always was my favorite was the one about Odysseus. There is something incredibly entertaining about this character's wittiness in traveling for ten years facing all types of struggles to return home to his kingdom. In researching this topic I refreshed my memory by reading about him facing the Sirens, Cyclops, and Circe. I think that it would be fun to research more about the villains he faced and possibly tell a story based on them or maybe in their viewpoint facing Odysseus. I find the stories already amazing so I don't think I could do them justice in recreating them but rather adding my own input or taking the different angle about it. Since the story is from way back I could even possibly do it in a space sense since we haven't truly traveled space yet. All of these are ideas which I would like to narrow down eventually.

Dante's Inferno

I truly have little knowledge about the stories from Dante's inferno other than discussing it some in my English class freshman year of high school. I know that it is about the purgatory state of entering the 7 different levels of hell but other than that I just don't have much knowledge. The reason however I am interested in this is because of the allusions made to it in The Count of Monte Cristo. That story is probably my favorite book (although it is extremely long) and I love the idea of revenge vs. karma. Honestly I'm not sure how I would approach this other than maybe telling a version of The Count of Monte Cristo where Dante ( the main character) would himself go into the depths of hell to face his future starting with the Gate of Hell like that in Dante's Inferno. I also thought about making this one modern as well taking a possible celebrity from today and making that person go through the struggles like those in the story. This one I mainly chose as a possible topic because I thought it would be something I could make totally new unlike other topics.

Learning Challenge: The Simple Deskercizes

After reading A Workout at Work? I realized that body movement is exactly what I need this year. Last year I lived in a fraternity house that had a basketball court so when I would get tired I would go shoot some hoops. This year I don't have that luxury as easily available so I need to find something to get my heart pumping in order to keep my mind active. I have a bad habit of just sitting down at my desk and not doing anything other than staring at a computer screen for hours. This article made me realize how simple it is to do some work outs to keep me going throughout studying. This was my favorite article because the moving figures made me laugh, yet were extremely descriptive.

One of the Deskercizes was simply walking. Walking would be easy for me because I live in a duplex where I'm on the top floor. It would be simple to just walk around the kitchen, down the stairs, around my house and then back to my room for a little break.

Walking Man from Pixabay

Another Deskercize I enjoyed was the "desk push up" because I love going to the gym so this would be a simple exercise that wouldn't tire me out too much yet would get my blood rushing and have some entertainment.

Although it isn't mentioned in the article I think it would also be beneficial to do some jumping jacks in order to make all of my body move and get my muscles warmed up. This exercise isn't as dorky so if someone went into my room I could explain easier than say the "tricep kicks" that were mentioned in the article.

Overall, I need to start doing something otherwise I will look for any excuse to quit studying just because I'm tired. I may not be to my fully exhausted point however and these Deskercizes will keep me going and give me the break/push I need to keep going.

Growth Mindset: Finding Myself Through New Strategies

The following quotes are from past students in relation to the Growth Mindset approach. Under each quote I have applied them to my thinking with the events in my life currently.

"Stop being afraid of what could go wrong and start being excited about what could go right."

This quote seems to fully apply to my life right now. I have been stutter stepping for a long time now about starting to study for my dental exam in order to apply for dental school. I have this feeling that I will under perform due to my lack of test taking skills so I keep putting other things before it. I need to just focus on the fact that I am a smart man who can do anything if I put my mind and effort into it. 

"My biggest challenge when it comes to learning new things is how others perceive me."

Although I normally don't care what people think about me, I will admit sometimes I am afraid of what my parents want from me. I know that it is my life but I don't want to let my parents down when it comes to school work. They don't really put any pressure on me but rather I put it on myself to impress them which isn't always a bad thing but instead I need to start doing things for myself instead. 

"Try out different strategies" 

I can apply this to my life in the sense that I need to try different ways of learning information. I tend to focus mainly on my memorization which can sometimes only be for a little period of time. I need to find better ways to study in order to truly learn something and be able to apply it in a multitude of ways in order to truly use my education for the betterment rather than just trying to get a grade. 

This is a game of chess which involves many different strategies from Pixabay.

Week 2 Story: A Puppy's Wish

A Puppy's Wish

Update: I have edited this story for the better which can be seen on my Portfolio.

Once there was a stray male puppy without any friends wandering through the trash of a dirty alley. The puppy found in a trash can a female stuffed dog that was in perfect condition whom he made his best friend. The puppy did everything with his new companion.

He would snuggle up with the stuffed dog at night to sleep.

He would run around the stuffed puppy pretending to play a game of “chase”.

He would offer some of the food he took from the trash to the stuffed dog.

He would talk to the stuffed dog about everything and anything.

He would even give the stuffed dog baths by licking her clean.

After a few weeks of spending all his time with the stuffed dog, he realized he had fallen head over paws for his new best friend.

One day the puppy found a fortune cookie in the trash. The puppy ripped the package of the fortune cookie open immediately. The puppy didn’t even care about the cookie but instead he cared about the message inside the cookie.

The puppy crushed the cookie open to read the note inside.

The fortune read “Wish for something but beware!”

The puppy without even hesitating barked “I wish my best friend was alive!”

Immediately the puppy ran over to his best friend to check and see if she had come to life. She wasn’t yet so the puppy gave her a lick on her head.

Suddenly the puppy began to come alive.

She began to have real fur.

She began to move her eyes.

She began to breathe.

Finally the puppy’s best friend was alive and the puppy barked “You’re Alive! My love we can spend all our days going through the trash and loving each other.”

With a sad look in her eyes she exclaimed “Puppy, I’m extremely thankful for everything you have done for me but I must confess I am not in love with you.”

The puppy sat there with a blank face as if the world was ending.

“I’m sorry but I must find my true owner for she lost me and that is who I love.” She said to the puppy.

She then took off running away from the puppy and they never saw each other again.

Sad Puppy from Maxpixel 

Author’s Note: This story is based upon Ovid’s Metamorphoses in which the character Pygmalion falls in love with a statue of a woman. One day the statue becomes alive due to the works of Venus. The statue whom Pygmalion loved then becomes his wife where they love each other and even have a son. This recreated version of the story uses dogs instead and ends differently than Ovid’s because sometimes love doesn’t always work out no matter how hard one tries. The puppy should have realized from the fortune cookie’s note to be specific in what he was to wish for.

Bibliography: Pygmalion from Ovid's Metamorphoses, translated by Tony Kline (2000)

Reading Notes: "The Tiger, the Brahman, and the Jackal" and "The Lion and the Statue"

"The Tiger, the Brahman, and the Jackal" was a story I enjoyed when reflecting the writing style due to the simpleness in conversation. All of the things said by the characters were simple in the sense that they made it very clear how one of them felt with showing emotion as well. I think a good way that this is conveyed is through the repetition of the Jackal. The writer keeps a good pattern in say "Yes...." and this allows for the point to get through yet its not too descriptive so it doesn't lose the attention of the reader. Another thing I enjoyed about this story was the similes used. For example I enjoyed the "look as miserable as a fish out of water". This allows for a easy depiction of how worried the Brahman was. I think that it is important to use similes and metaphors because readers can relate better with the emotions or the actions of the characters involved. The author also does a good job of describing characters emotions which also sets the stage well for how these characters truly feel by using descriptions of what has been done unto them. I also think the climax of the story was very smooth in the sense it was put more into an action than what is said making the reader able to visualize what is being done. The Tiger, the Brahman, and the Jackal

I also enjoyed the writing style of "The Lion and the Statue" because I enjoy the simplicity of fables. Although this story is short it makes complete sense through the conversation. The conversation not only sets the stage of what is being performed but it also is what I like to call the "kicker". As everything is being said between the two it ends in a statement that expresses the entire meaning or lesson behind the short story. I would like to learn how to lead a story through the character's words rather than actions because in my opinion this makes it feel as a reader like you are the one performing the conversation. Although I am confused whether the writer of the story put this or not, I also think it is important to put the meaning of the story in a short statement at the end to express the entirety of the meaning within a few words. I also think italicizing the words allows for more impact because the difference in font shows the power behind it. The Tiger and the Statue.

Tiger meme posted on Flickr by Meme Binge

Gavin's Tech Tip: First Tweet

I've been using twitter for a few years now but I have never used it for anything other than jokes, facts, and random communication between others. This is my first time to use it with a class or even be encouraged to tweet for a class. I think it will be a great thing being it can communicate random short information to the class. I just used the account I have always used because it seemed simpler than creating a new twitter. I hardly ever tweet myself but I do get on fairly often to read my feed. Anyways this should be a simple way to learn more about the class and communicate myself if needed.

Reading Options that I personally found interesting.

My mother is an English teacher and has been since I've been alive. She always made a strong point to teach me how to love literature and stories and she did an amazing job carrying this love over to me. What my mom didn't realize however was that she was teaching me to love music without even knowing it. As I have mentioned in my past blog Introduction to a Future Dentist I have a love for artists like Eminem and Johnny Cash. The reason I love them so much is how they can tell simple stories in their songs that go about with an almost perfect rhyme scheme.

Eminem Picture on Flickr by Scott Kinmartin

I attribute my love for them due to a book my mom would read and make me read every night as a child. This was a book of nursery rhymes and I couldn't get enough as a child. Due to my love for nursery rhymes I immediately went to these type stories on the Untextbook page Nursery Rhymes. Although I didn't recognize most of them (which I'm actually happy about so I could read them) I did recognize a few. For example I read the Little Jack Horner one. I also recognized The Crooked Man even though I fully hadn't remembered it. 

I also was attracted to the Homer's Odyssey section due to all of the years I've taken Latin. I started taking Latin in the sixth grade due to my mom's influence and never really looked back. I took Latin every single year of school from then on until junior year of college. In Latin class the Odyssey was brought up hundreds of times and especially the grand story of the terrifying Cyclops. I've always loved these mythology stories because of one teacher I had in high school who probably taught us more mythology stories than she did the language of Latin. This is why for this class I fully intend on reading all of the Cyclops sections along with more Greek mythology stories. 

Another section that caught my eye was the section of Saint Francis of Assisi in the Saints and Animals tab. I was interested in this because in the 6th grade I moved to private school for the first time in my life and it happened to be a Catholic school. Before this my family never really pressured any religion on me. The school taught me all about the different saints and in 6th grade we even had  school play where I dressed up as Saint Francis of Assisi. I wish I had a picture of me back then for it because it looked really funny to see a sixth grade boy dressed as him with a head piece to make me look bald and everything. Overall I think his story is very interesting plus I love animals being a Biology major here at school so I plan on diving into these stories as well. 

Saint Francis of Assisi 

I'm sure that I will get into more than just these but these were the ones I read about and will continue to read through out this class. I'm looking forward to these three because they are all a little different but still attract me to them due to some of my past interests.